December 21, 2018

Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky has joined with the American Civil Liberties Union in suing to overturn a 2016 Indiana law stating that a preborn baby cannot be aborted “solely because of the fetus’s race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, or diagnosis or potential diagnosis of the fetus having Down syndrome or any other disability.” Now, a 19-state coalition has joined together to issue a friend-of-the-court brief, urging the Supreme Court of the United States to uphold state laws banning abortion based on disability, gender, or race. These laws are commonly referenced as banning abortion due to Down syndrome, as babies diagnosed with Down syndrome prenatally are very likely to become victims of abortion.

In September of 2016, Judge Tanya Walton Pratt ruled in favor of Planned Parenthood and the ACLU, despite acknowledging that the rate of abortion for preborn babies with Down syndrome is high, writing that “the parties are essentially in agreement that a significant number of women have sought, and will continue to seek, an abortion solely because of the diagnosis of a disability or the risk thereof” and that the CEO of Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky swore that they would continue to commit abortions “solely because of a diagnosis of fetal Down syndrome or other genetic disabilities or the possibility of such a diagnosis.”